UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemns bombings in Syrian capital

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has “strongly” condemned recent deadly bomb attacks in the Syrian capital, Damascus, calling for an immediate end to the unrest in the country.“The secretary general is extremely concerned that the spiral of violence in Syria is creating a fertile ground for terrorism and criminal actions of all kinds. All violence must stop,” said Ban’s spokesman Martin Nesirky in a statement on Tuesday.The UN chief also called for a political solution to the crisis in Syria and a political dialogue with UN-Arab League Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi.“The secretary general reiterates that no cause can justify terrorist attacks, wherever, whenever and by whomever they are committed,” Nesirky said, adding that resorting to continued violence “will only lead to more suffering and destruction.”On Tuesday, twin bombings hit a military base in Damascus and killed dozens.The UN secretary general also warned of the escalation of violence along the Syrian-Turkish border and the effect of the Syria unrest on Lebanon.Tension between Turkey and Syria escalated on Wednesday, when a mortar fired from inside Syria hit Turkey’s southeastern town of Akcakale in Sanliurfa province, killing at least five people.Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Damascus says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the unrest and deadly violence, but the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.Western states have been calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. However, Russia and China are strongly opposed to the Western drive to oust Assad.The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the armed militants are foreign nationals. /129